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My thanks to the folks who responded to the question about dead scholarships. My friend Lori Messinger offered that many foundations now put in language to the effect that if nobody meets the criteria for a certain amount of time, then the funds become available to be used at the discretion of (the college, the dean, the foundation). That’s a great idea, but apparently it wasn’t always thus.
My Inside Higher Ed blogger colleague Kathy Johnson Bowles offered to do a “Just Explain It to Me” post on the subject, which I happily accepted. She emphasized the importance of digging into the files for primary sources to reconstruct the donor’s intent; sometimes it isn’t quite what folks remember. Stay tuned.
The discouraging part was how many people recognized the issue. Leaving so much money in fallow accounts while students struggle doesn’t do anybody any good.
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Without quite meaning to, I seem to be focused on fundraising of late. So, another one:
Has anyone seen or heard of a grant program to build fundraising capacity at colleges? I’m imagining something in which a foundation gets x dollars for y years to either hire people or buy software, on the theory that after y years are over, the intervention will be more than self-supporting.
I haven’t found one, but I’m also not entirely sure where to look. Any hints would be appreciated!
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This one is a single sentence question on which I have some thoughts, but I’d love to hear from my wise and worldly readers on it first:
How can community colleges make themselves aspirational?
As always, I can be reached on Twitter (@deandad) or via email (deandad at gmail dot com). Thanks in advance!
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This weekend is Parents’ Weekend at UMD, so we’ll head down to visit The Girl and embarrass her in front of her friends. I haven’t embarrassed her in weeks, so I’m overdue.
Even with some rust, I think I’ll manage. Some things just come easy.
